When Time Lords and Wizards Collide
by Hasralaxy
Summary: The Doctor strays into Hogwarts when the TARDIS senses huge energy at the school of magic. There he meets one Harry James Potter and his friends, and some chaos ensues... - This was written years ago, so forgive some of the poor writing!
1. Explaining the Unexplainable

Are we sitting comfortably? Then let's begin.

The TARDIS was acting particularly peculiar, which is really saying something. The Doctor was used to the unexpected and often disobedient antics of his age-old time machine, but never in its near thousand year lifetime had it been acting so strange. You see, the TARDIS was jumping arbitrarily and uncontrollably between time and space for no reason, ending up in the year 1456 in one millisecond and then in the year 171456 the next, whilst the Doctor tried all he could to appropriately stabilise his most provocative machine.

"BEHAVE!" shouted the Doctor, punching several buttons on the mushroom shaped console in quick sequence. A deep, incensed growling sound emanated from the impish machine, and then, completely abruptly, the TARDIS began to shake as if caught in a severe earthquake. The Doctor and his latest companion, Martha Jones, were flung ungraciously across the metal floor along with other items, including a severed hand in a jar, a pair of Magna-Clamps and a couple of strange looking books.

"What the hell is going on with this thing?" shouted Martha, holding on to the console.

"The Time-Spatial Carburettor has gone into overdrive, for no reason whatsoever! We're being flung between space and time every millisecond!" said the Doctor, whacking the console with a hammer he had just produced out of nowhere.

"So is this bad or _really_ bad?" asked Martha anxiously.

"Well, to put it simply, if this thing doesn't stabilise in the next three point six seven minutes we're gonna get stuck in the middle of the time vortex without any defences..." said the Doctor, continuing to nonchalantly hit the TARDIS with his hammer.

"Translation please!"

"We'll get disintegrated by the matrices of the vortex; the Time Lords used to send their enemies there so they could he harmlessly and painlessly destroyed, but-"

The Doctor was then interrupted because, at that exact minute, the console decided to explode.

"NO! BAD TARDIS! BAD! We're going into temporal meltdown, and we're losing Artron Energy!" shouted the Doctor rapidly, grabbing a fire extinguisher from beneath the console. He aimed it at the fire which had sprung to life on the top of the console, but the TARDIS trembled again and he dropped the extinguisher onto his foot.

"Ouch! Now this is why I _hate _fire extinguishers!"

"What's Artron Energy?" asked Martha bemusedly.

"TARDIS fuel...without any of it the machine's going to stall..."

"Can't you do anything!?" shouted Martha urgently.

"Doing it right now! Emergency Protocol Fifty Four; I'm setting the TARDIS to override the entire system and to set itself to lock on to the nearest location of Artron Energy, and we're gonna get pulled through the Time Vortex at three times the speed of light to get there! So, if it helps, hold on tight!"

"What do you mean?" yelled Martha, but her question was answered almost straight away. As soon as the Doctor had stopped thrashing around on the console, the entire TARDIS shuddered even more violently than it had before, and the strangely dimensioned walls groaned as if struggling to cope.

Then, as abrupt and as unexpected as the TARDIS herself, everything stopped. The bothersome shaking came to a complete halt, and the thrashing and spinning unexpectedly ended. It became unusually and rather ominously quiet throughout the time machine, with the exception of the Doctor, uneasily examining the idle console.

"Well, we've stopped..." he said slowly.

"What happened?"

"Well, I set it for the nearest source of Artron Energy, but it seems we've ended up in – er – Scotland. In 1996. And if my facts are right, and ninety-nine point nine percent of the time they are dead on, there are no significant Artron Energy reservoirs in Scotland, well, at least until the year 47803 when a Gamma Strike rips open a hole in Loch Ness."

"I swear half the time you make this stuff up..." said Martha.

"What? Me?! Never..." teased the Doctor, smiling mischievously.

The screen on the console started to flash, showing strange and unfamiliar symbols that made no sense to Martha, but it captured the Doctor's attention in an instant.

"Hmm...it seems that the TARDIS got confused; it's actually Psionic Energy, which is a similar type of energy to Artron Energy in terms of energy viscosity. But this is so strange...Psionic Energy hasn't existed corporeally for about a thousand years..."

"What's Psionic Energy?"

"It's the only form of energy which has adapted to only exist within a living being, and only a very few species across the universe at that. The energy could give anyone who possessed it certain powers...but I can't start storytelling now, we have to sort out this problem..." said the Doctor matter-of-factly.

"What's the problem?"

"It's the wrong sort of energy for the TARDIS, if it tries to absorb it then-"

The Doctor was interrupted when a deep, loud grinding sound echoed from the heart of the console. It sounded like an engine when it couldn't start, that du-da-du-da-du-da-du-brrrrr sound. Quite accordingly, the usual sound of the TARDIS completely stopped like it had just died. The lights, console and everything else in the machine abruptly stopped working, and the Doctor and Martha were plunged into darkness.

"-this will happen..." finished the Doctor.

"Well, that was clever! I thought this thing was a supercomputer?!"

"Oi, don't insult her! She's a bit old, losing her mind a little...but otherwise fine!"

"She's stalled herself! Do you call that fine?!"

"I call it unpredictability, and I do love unpredictability..."

"I so don't get you..."

"Well we've been in worse situations!" said the Doctor cheerfully.

"Yeah, I guess...but we're kind of stuck here now. In Scotland, in 1996..." said Martha.

"Stuck? We're not stuck, the TARDIS is just sleeping...the Psionic Energy damaged her system, so she went to sleep to protect herself from further damage... "

"So what do we do?"

"The only way to wake her up is a little Artron Energy from somewhere, to at least get her running..."

"Where are we gonna get that? I thought you said it's all _isotonic_ stuff out there?"

"_Psionic_, and yes, apparently it is...Still! A little exploring won't hurt! There's bound to be a little pocket of Artron around this area somewhere...otherwise it's a long journey to Cardiff..."

"So, where _exactly _are we? I mean, Scotland's a big place..."

"Dunno. The TARDIS shut down before I could get any co-ordinates. How about we go outside and find out?"

"Is it safe?"

"Hope not, otherwise where's the fun in life?" said the Doctor, grinning like a child about to be given a large treat.

"Yeah, but danger with you is often life threatening..."

"No! That's just the impression people get...anyway, I can pretty much guarantee you that it is safe out there..."

"How come?"

"As if it isn't, we're most likely dead, as the defences are down..."

"Right...really encouraging..." murmured Martha sarcastically.

"Well, no point in staying in here! Let's go and have a poke around..." said the Doctor grandly, rushing to the doors.

"If we must...but if we _do _get stuck here I am so going to kill you..."

"Don't worry, we won't be here long. Well, hopefully."

It was very late at night in the Gryffindor Common Room. In fact, it was so late that only three people were still up, nestled in chairs by a dim and fading fire. All three were quietly engaged in homework so laborious it had taken them several hours to complete just one piece. Outside the windows, an ominous storm was slowly gathering over the castle they were in, plunging the common room into partial darkness as black clouds impeded the faint light of the waning moon. Rain, light at first but consistently increasing in vehemence, drummed against the windows.

Hermione Granger was focused resolutely on finishing her last piece of homework, being the boffin, for want of a better word, she had been all her life. The other two struggled to keep themselves awake, occasionally nodding off to sleep, only to be jabbed awake by Hermione's castigating and disapproving quill, or by the violent and strangely strident thunder outside. One of the boys was called Ron Weasley; the other boy was called Harry Potter.

As time wore on, and as midnight came and went, even Hermione struggled to continue with her homework. Ron had fallen completely asleep by now, and Hermione couldn't have been bothered to wake him, and the weather no longer disturbed him. Harry, on the other hand, had decided to give up on his homework altogether, partially asleep as he dozed in and out of the common room. He, like Ron, was too tired to even consider going up to the dormitory above.

But then something happened which woke both boys, and even distracted Hermione from her studies. They all felt an infinitesimal vibration shake throughout the castle, before slowly recoiling back into complete motionlessness.

Ron, now wide awake, whispered timidly "What was that?"

"Some sort of vibration..." said Hermione slowly, examining the room.

A much larger and shorter tremor resonated all around them. Disturbed dust fell from the ceiling, and a couple of fragile ornaments fell of the mantelpiece and onto the carpet.

"What the hell was that?" asked Harry timorously.

A light breeze seemed to blow across the common room, coming from no clear source. Pieces of parchment were sent flying off the tables, and the fire was fully extinguished by the mysterious breeze.

A bright blue light then appeared in the middle of the common room, flashing on and off while an inexplicable roaring sound echoed throughout Gryffindor Tower. When the light had diminished, the trio saw that a blue phone box had just materialized out of nowhere, right in front of their bemused eyes.

For a brief couple of seconds, the three just stared at the sight of this strange and unanticipated box, ignoring the distant and muffled stirs and groans from upstairs.

"What the _hell_?" murmured Ron startled. Hermione was gazing intensely at it as if trying to find some logical explanation why an old blue Muggle-looking Police Phone box had just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of their common room.

"How on earth...this is impossible...Hogwarts has...what _is _this..?" whispered Hermione, stammering over her words.

"It's one of those old phone boxes...you see them on Muggle television sometimes..." murmured Harry, nonplussed.

"Phone Boxes? You mean those things Muggles use to talk to each other?" asked Ron.

"Yeah...didn't know that they could do _that_ though..." said Harry.

"It could be bewitched magically..." suggested Hermione.

"But the Hogwarts defences? Nothing can get through them, you've said so yourself..."

Hermione said nothing, bravely stepping forward towards the puzzling object.

"Do you think there's something inside?" asked Ron, gazing anxiously at the blue doors as if they would suddenly burst open.

They did.

"SCOTLAND! Where might we be in this historic land!?" yelled a man joyfully in an attempt at a Scottish accent, bursting through the blue doors and into the Common Room. Harry, Ron and Hermione jumped back into their seats, drawing their wands reticently. The Doctor, somehow not noticing this, continued his enthusiastic monologue.

"This is actually quite a nice place! I thought we'd be stuck in some grisly Loch, but this is much better. Hmm, this looks like some sort of sitting room...some sort of lounge...relaxation area...for some sort of...school! Boarding School! Yes, I can recognise the theme! Think, think, think, think, think, think, think...of course I should know this architecture! Its pre-Norman, around a thousand years old, give or take a few years! Whoa! That's a bit old for a boarding school, isn't it...the oldest boarding school I know was that Chinese School of Martial Arts which has been going on for eight hundred years...still there now, but they sell bananas as well...did I ever mention I love bananas...bananas are good...then of course there's the University of Proxima Centauri, which has been running for eighteen thousand years, but that's not on Earth... "

He trailed off when he eventually caught sight of Harry, Ron and Hermione, looking completely bewildered with their wands drawn threateningly.

"Hello there! I'm the Doctor, and this is Martha Jones!" said the Doctor enthusiastically. Martha joined the Doctor in the Common Room, interestedly gazing around the room and at the three astounded people.

"How did you get through the barriers?" asked Hermione warily.

"Hmm? What barriers are these?" asked the Doctor curiously.

"The school barriers...how did you-"

"What are you? Some sort of Death Eater?" asked Ron circumspectly.

"Death is not a physical entity so I couldn't possibly eat it...nor would I want to..." said the Doctor, looking concernedly at Ron.

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged sceptical looks. Clearly, they thought that someone who hadn't heard of the Death Eaters must be a Muggle, but that didn't explain his rather abrupt arrival...

"May I ask you why you are pointing sticks at me?" asked the Doctor inquisitively.

"They're not sticks, they're wan-" piped up Hermione, but a look from Harry quickly silenced her.

"All right...anyway, this may sound really strange, but, erm, where are we?"

Harry raised his eyebrows.

"You're in... well, you're in a castle...er, in Scotland" said Harry, choosing his words carefully. If these were Muggles then he didn't want to tell them too much.

"Anything a little more specific?" pressed the Doctor.

The trio remained silent, but lowered their wands slightly all the same. This man, they figured, couldn't be a Death Eater, nor any sort of wizard if he didn't know Hogwarts. As well as this, he didn't seem like a threatening sort of person at all.

"Ah ha, the Sonic Screwdriver should tell me the brief co-ordinates!" said the Doctor, back to his enthusiastic self. He pulled out a stubby grey thing from his pocket and fiddled with it for a brief moment. To the complete bewilderment of all three young students, it was making odd beeping noises, and the top of it started to flash on and off in a bright blue light.

"What is that?" asked Hermione.

"I told you! My Sonic Screwdriver!" said the Doctor happily.

"Sonic? Screwdriver? A _Sonic Screwdriver_?" murmured Harry sceptically.

"Yes! A Sonic Screwdriver! Do you want me to repeat it again?" said the Doctor.

"But electronics don't work in Hogwarts..." said Hermione quietly. Clearly, she didn't like to see all the Laws of Hogwarts broken right before her eyes.

"Why wouldn't electronics work here? Is there some sort of electromagnetic interference?"

"Um...what?" asked Harry.

"Don't they teach kids Advanced Electromangeticology in school these days?" asked the Doctor.

"Not where I was taught..." said Martha.

"What does that thing do?" asked Ron, ignoring the Doctor's cheek.

"A lot. Open's doors. Starts things. Stops things. Pinpoints co-ordinates of the TARDIS so we can see where we are, which is what I'm doing right now...

"The _TARDIS_?"

"My ship..." said the Doctor, pointing behind him at the blue box.

"Your _ship_? Like one of those big boats Mug- I mean people use to move around in?" asked Ron.

"Not that kind of ship...it's a, well, I shouldn't really be saying it, but I doubt you're going to believe me anyway; it's a spaceship, of sorts..."

This was followed by several seconds of stunned silence.

"Are you some sort of nutter?" asked Ron dubiously.

"People do call me that..." said the Doctor.

"Me included..." said Martha.

The bright blue light on the so called Sonic Screwdriver began to weaken, whilst making an odd whining noise.

"What's wrong with it?" asked Martha.

"There _is _some sort of interference around here, but it's not electromagnetic...it's the Psionic energy...it's in ultracorporeal form...it's become a physical entity...but that's impossible..."

Harry, Ron and Hermione continued to look bewildered, though all three had completely lowered their wands by then.

"I've never seen Psionic energy in such a form..." said the Doctor, dumbfounded.

"What's Psionic Energy?" asked Hermione confusedly.

"It's a form of megaforce energy which has adapted for living creatures...if properly harnessed, it gives a Psionic-positive host supernatural powers beyond the ordinary..." said the Doctor.

"You make no sense!" said Ron.

"Tell me about it..." said Martha.

"Oi, you two! I make perfect sense, it's just that you lot don't understand it..." said the Doctor indignantly.

The Sonic Screwdriver began to erratically flash and flicker, making even more peculiar bleeping noises.

"Precise co-ordinates are...are...um...nowhere, apparently..."

"We can't be _nowhere_!" said Martha.

"According to the Sonic Screwdriver, this place shouldn't exist. This place is either some sort of reinforced dimension within the dimensions of Earth, or the Psionic energy is interfering with the circuitry..."

"What the hell are you talking about? What-How-WHO are you, anyway?" asked Harry.

"Do you lot ever listen to what I'm saying? I'm the Doctor!"

"You just can't be _The Doctor_! Doctor _Who_?"

"Oh, the amount of times I've heard that. If they were to make a TV show about me, that's what it should be called..."

"_How _did you get in here anyway?" asked Hermione.

"Well, to put it simply, we crashed. We don't want to be here, to be honest. I can think of many better things to do than entertain three teenagers..."

" I'm an adult, thank you very much!" said Ron indignantly.

"You don't look it..." said Martha. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen!"

"Well you're not exactly an adult then are you; you're not eighteen!"

"Are you dumb or something? People come of age at seventeen, not eighteen!"

"It's eighteen you idiot! What world are you living in? "

"Clearly not one you two share..." said the Doctor. It wasn't a joke; he looked serious, like he had just realised something.

"Of course...this all makes sense now...the abundance of Psionic Energy in this place symbolises that the occupants of this school have the powers of the Psionic Energy...and this castle exists in a little bubble dimension attached to Earth but not part of it...and because the Psionic Energy is particularly good at affecting DNA, these people are not ordinary humans..."

"Then what are they?"

"I don't know..." said the Doctor.

"They were pointing sticks at us...is that an indication of what they are?"

"Witchcraft...again...I think those 'sticks' form a sort of channel to converge Psionic Energy into physical actions and influences...like wands... " said the Doctor.

Harry, Ron and Hermione took a step back. He knew.

"But you destroyed the Carrionites on Earth back with Shakespeare...surely Witchcraft is dead?"

"This has got nothing to do with the Carrionites, remember they used their own powers in the form of Physic Energy; this is Psionic Energy just giving the impersonation of Physic Energy..."

"How do you know about magic?" asked Harry.

"This isn't magic. There has never been such thing as magic, just corporeal powers and types of energy which impersonate the legend of magic..."

"What? _What?!"_

"Am I right in saying that you lot have special abilities that not every human can do?"

"Yes..." they said slowly.

"Well, that's the Psionic Energy buried into your genes. Like I said, it's the only type of energy that has adapted for living creatures, and if one species has Psionic Genes and is sentient enough to harness it then they can possess certain powers and abilities. It's a very powerful gene, too. If just one parent contains a gene saturated in Psionic Energy it is very likely that the offspring will have the Psionic Gene..."

"People would _know _this, surely...people with this Psionic Power would be using it all the time wouldn't they?" said Martha.

"The fact that this place is contained in a separate adjacent dimension suggests otherwise...like they're trying to hide it...a person with enough control over his or hers Psionic powers could protect anything..."

It was then there attention fell onto the grand portraits that lined the walls of the common room. The contents were moving, crowds of little painted people packed into the frames, all looking to see what had happened in the common room.

"Oh my God, they're moving...the pictures are actually moving..." said Martha.

The Doctor, keen to investigate as he always was, jumped towards the nearest painting, Sonic Screwdriver in hand.

"No screen behind the canvas...no projection...some sort of two-dimensional dimension within each portrait...wow...I mean, wow, I have never seen such technology..." he said, in blatant awe.

"What on Earth are you talking about you lofty hooligan?" asked one of the people in the portraits.

" And they talk too! That's not even Artificial Intelligence, that's pure sentience!" he said, sounding delightfully astounded.

"Doctor...um...look..."

"What?" asked the Doctor, turning around to see what Martha was talking about. A fairly old woman, wearing even older spectacles, with her hair tied up in a tight bun, had just walked into the common room in a brown dressing gown. Her initial look of anger faded into mingled shock as she observed the Blue Box and the two strangers.

It was Professor McGonagall.

"What on _Earth_ is going on in here!"


	2. Magic and Science

"Who the _hell _are you, and how did you get into this castle?!" shouted Professor McGonagall angrily, quick to pull her wand out.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Martha Jones..." said the Doctor warily. Martha gave him a curious look.

"It's not like a stick is going to cause much damage, Doctor..."

"They channel Psionic Energy, remember...and Psionic Energy is mighty deadly when used at the right wavelength..."

"So it could kill us?"

"_You_. Time Lords are-"

"WILL YOU TWO WILL STOP TALKING AND ANSWER MY QUESTION!" shouted Professor McGonagall..

"Ok, ok we're listening..." said the Doctor.

"How did you get into this castle!?"

"We crashed!"

"You just can't _crash _into this school!"

"They did, Professor, that blue box thing just...just _appeared _out of nowhere!" said Ron.

"Dumbledore has added the toughest magical security in decades; nothing can penetrate the defences!"

"Well, they did!" said Harry.

"What is this Dumbledore's person 'magical' protection? Is it a force field?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes, in logic, it would be a magical force field..." said Hermione slowly.

"Miss Granger, please hold your tongue in front of this stranger!" reprimanded Professor McGonagall.

"No, Miss Granger, please continue..." said the Doctor firmly. "May I ask your first name?"

"Hermione." said Hermione.

"Excuse me, sir, but you have no authority over these students! You are currently facing immediate arrest for trespassing in Hogwarts, so please keep your mouth shut!"

"So this place is called Hogwarts...what a weird name for a school..." said Martha.

"Ah, some sense comes from the marshes of this mystery..." said the Doctor. "I've heard of Hogwarts, in a legend, of course. According to that legend it is a school which practices the arts of 'magic', operating in secrecy in its own little world...of course, I read this in a book of Folklore of Scotland, but one myth in a million always turns out to be true..."

"A school of magic?! That means you lot are students..." said Martha, looking at Harry, Ron and Hermione. "And you must be a-"

"Teacher, yes!" shouted McGonagall fiercely.

"So you lot learn _magic_?" asked Martha. "Like card-tricks, or pulling a rabbit out of a hat?"

"That's a human interpretation of 'magic', Martha. Here, I think they learn how to control Psionic Energy and how to use it..."

"What on earth are you talking about?!" said Professor McGonagall, furiously dumbfounded.

"Is there a problem in here?" came a sudden snide voice from the portrait hole. A man, most likely another teacher, had walked into the common room. He was dressed entirely in black, with sallow skin, a hooked nose and unpleasant greasy hair. Despite the unlikeable appearance, he looked redoubtable, dark and slightly scary. He also looked intelligent; very intelligent. He was Snape. Severus Snape.

Snape stopped short at the sight of the Doctor and Martha, along with the blue box.

"Minerva, who are these people?"

"Trespassers, Severus..."

"But that's impossible. The defences are at maximum; nothing can get through without the headmaster's permission..."

"Well, unless Dumbledore let them through without acknowledging the staff, here they are..."

"Remarkable..."

"May I just say something-" started the Doctor, but Snape presumptuously interrupted.

"You, sir, whoever you are, will remain quiet or face the unpleasant consequences!"

"I'm sorry, I don't respond to threats..." said the Doctor placidly.

"_Silencio_!" shouted Snape at the Doctor, quickly drawing his wand. The Doctor, looking admirably unfazed, raised his eyebrows.

"Well, that didn't work, did it?!" said the Doctor. Snape, along with McGonagall and the three students, were looking surprised and bewildered.

"Impossible..." remarked Snape.

"Time Lords are immune to Psionic Energy. Did I mention that?" said the Doctor to Martha.

"Time Lords?" asked Snape indignantly.

"Yes, that's me."

"What dribble is this?"

"I am not human..." said the Doctor. "I am a 903 year old Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey."

There was a incredulous moments silence.

"Preposterous..." said Snape.

"I knew he was mad..." whispered Ron.

"I heard that." said the Doctor bluntly.

"Well, clearly you _are_ mad if you believe that you are such nonsense..." said Professor McGonagall.

"Look, I am not going to try to convince you of what I really am, but can I say that we didn't get here on purpose, nor do we want to be here!"

"As much as I would like to believe that, you're still a possible threat. You could be a Death Eater, for all we know. Do you recognise him, Severus?" said McGonagall seriously.

"He's not one of the old crowd..." said Snape warily. Clearly, the fact that the Doctor was impervious to his spell was still unnerving to him.

"_Death Eater_? Like I said before to these three, death is not physical entity so I couldn't possibly eat it!"

McGonagall and Snape exchanged dubious looks.

"May I see your left arm?" asked Snape to the Doctor.

"Um...why?" asked the Doctor, perplexed.

"Show me your left arm..." pressed Snape.

The Doctor, looking thoroughly confused, presented his left arm to Snape. Snape quickly drew back the fabric, revealing a perfectly bare arm.

"There is no Dark Mark here, Minerva..."

"Then he is no Death Eater..." said Professor McGonagall. She looked slightly relieved.

"Just because he is not a Death Eater does not vindicate his innocence. Professor Dumbledore should see this man and his accomplice...and we should alert the Aurors to examine that box thing..."

"I'll go get the Aurors, Severus. You three," said McGonagall, pointing at Harry, Ron and Hermione, "will accompany Professor Snape and these two people to Dumbledore's office..."

"I don't need assistance, Minerva..." said Snape.

"They saw these people arrive, so they need to tell Professor Dumbledore what they saw..."

"All right...you two, up in front where I can see you..." said Snape viciously at the Doctor and Martha.

Knowing they had nowhere else to go, they followed Professor Snape's orders.

"You three, follow.." said Snape to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hesitantly, they followed Professor Snape out of the common room with the Doctor and Martha at the front.

"Couldn't we just get in the TARDIS? Who knows what we could be getting into?" whispered Martha urgently.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" reprimanded the Doctor.

"We're in some strange castle with strange people with strange abilities! It's the not ideal place to be, Doctor!"

"They haven't hurt us!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"Greasy boy tried to..." murmured Martha quietly.

"Well, I'm impervious to Psionic Energy, gladly he didn't try to go for you..."

"If he had, I would just punch him in the face..."

"Humans; you always resort to violence, don't you!?" remarked the Doctor incredulously.

"It's self defence!"

"It's unneeded!"

"Quiet, you two!" snapped Snape.

"Sorry..." said the Doctor, although it was clear he didn't mean it in the slightest.

"Yeah, sorry Mr Greasehead..." said Martha quietly.

"Martha!"

"What?!"

"QUIET!" shouted Snape.

"Sorry..." repeated the Doctor.

"Don't say sorry to him!"

"I'm trying to remain on friendly ground here!"

"We've haven't been on friendly ground at all! They've tried to attack us and now they're taking us to this Dumbydore person like we're prisoners! "

"Be that as it may, they haven't actually harmed us at all, and I consider that friendly ground!"

"How the _hell _do you consider that to be-"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, BE QUIET!" shouted Snape.

"OH WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" retorted Martha.

"Martha!"

"What!? This guy is getting on my nerves!"

"SHUT UP AND KEEP MOVING!" shouted Snape. It looked like Martha _was_ going to punch him in the face for a moment, but a glare from the Doctor convinced her otherwise. Reluctantly, she continued to walk through the old corridors with the Doctor at her side.

Meanwhile, behind Professor Snape, Harry, Ron and Hermione were arguing about the mysterious man who had so abruptly dropped into their lives.

"_How _was he impervious to the Silencing Charm? I thought that was impossible!" whispered Harry.

"It _is _impossible; the Silencing Charm_ can't_ be blocked..." said Hermione.

"Then why didn't the charm work?"

"Maybe he is a Time Lord thing..." said Hermione quietly.

Harry and Ron shared sceptical looks.

"Hermione, he's a _nutter_..." said Ron.

"He isn't. He's very intelligent, can't you tell that?"

"Um...no. I can't sense people's intelligence..."

"Well, he's obviously a very intelligent person..."

"Well, that's off the point. The main question is how does he know about this place if he's a Muggle!" asked Harry.

"_Is _he a Muggle?" asked Hermione.

"He must be! He uses electronic devices and he didn't know what this place was until we told him. He speaks with a British accent, which means he's British, which means if he _was _a wizard he would of come to this place when he was younger! He would recognise the place! He is _not _a wizard!"

"But how do you explain his arrival?" asked Hermione.

"Well, you know Muggles; they always like to develop technology and science. Maybe this is one of their experiments..." said Harry.

"If Voldemort can't get through, I doubt any Muggle could..." said Hermione, uncertainly.

"Well, he's not a wizard, I can tell you that..."" said Harry.

Hermione frowned, turning her eyes back to the front and onto the back of the Doctor. There was something about him...just something different...something that was dissuading and persuading her at every thought of this strange man...something that was fighting off her sense of logic and sense that was making her unquestioningly comprehend the possibilities of the strange man only known as the Doctor.

The awkward group eventually reached the two stones gargoyles which marked the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"_Liquorice Jelly_." said Snape.

"Excuse me?" asked the Doctor, concernedly.

"It's the password, you imbecile..." spat Snape.

Sure enough, the two gargoyles leaped aside, revealing a staircase leading up.

"Well how was I supposed to know..." muttered the Doctor.

"I shall lead the way up..." said Snape, ignoring the Doctor's comment. "You three shall stay here. Professor Dumbledore will want to question you in a moment." said Snape to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

The Doctor and Martha followed Snape all the way up to a pair of brass doors with a large ornate knocker on both. Snape, however, didn't use the knocker at all; he just opened the door.

"Severus? What do I owe this late pleasure?" came a quiet voice from within.

"I'm sorry to disturb you. Professor Dumbledore, but there has been a serious situation. We've apprehended two trespassers who were found in the Gryffindor Common Room, but they're not Death Eaters."

"What?! Where are they now?"

"Right here, headmaster...get in here, you two..."

The Doctor and Martha entered the office. Even the Doctor looked slightly awed at the room, with its delicate-looking silver instruments, the portraits of what looked like previous headmasters and headmistresses on the walls and impressiveness of the ornate floors and its superlative walls. The Doctor looked even more impressed of the bearded man behind the large teak desk in the room; he looked significantly old and wizened, but fearless, formidable and durable nonetheless. Martha, meanwhile, was also looking quite amazed, but this was only because this old man looked so much like Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings.

Professor Dumbledore removed himself from the desk and rushed forward at a speed that was not at all congruent to his age.

"Who are you and how did you get into this castle?" shouted Dumbledore.

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Martha Jones, to answer your first question. We crashed into this place, to answer your second." said the Doctor, cheerfully.

"You can't crash into this castle..." said Dumbledore, regarding the Doctor curiously.

"So we've been told..." said the Doctor.

"He came in a blue box, headmaster. Potter, Weasley and Granger saw his abrupt arrival in that object; do you wish to ask them any questions?"

"Are they here?" asked Dumbledore.

"They're outside your office."

"Bring them in, please..." said Dumbledore. Snape left down the staircase.

"Nice place." said the Doctor arbitrarily, once Snape had left.

"Thousands of people over our extensive history have attempted, fruitlessly, to penetrate this castle. How on Earth did you manage to get into this castle in a _Blue Box_?" asked Dumbledore, curiously. The odd thing was he didn't sound like he was worried or demanding; on the contrary, it was if he sincerely interested, as if he was asking the Doctor tomorrow's weather.

"It's a really long story, and you wouldn't understand or believe me..."

"How would you know that until you tell me?" asked Dumbledore, nonplussed.

"Because I do..." stated the Doctor. Dumbledore raised his aged eyebrows, but did not retort.

The door opened again, and Harry, Ron and Hermione came through, followed closely by Professor Snape. Dumbledore smiled.

"Why is it whenever there's trouble in this castle you three are always involved?" chuckled Dumbledore. He seemed quite different now for when the Doctor and Martha first saw him; he was much more jovial. Both of them were looking slightly disconcerted from Dumbledore's bipolar manner.

"Believe me, Professor Dumbledore, I've been asking that same question for five years..." said Ron.

"So, according to Professor Snape, you three saw our odd named trespasser and his companion arrive within this castle?"

"Odd named?!" said the Doctor incredulously. "What's wrong with 'The Doctor'?!"

"It's not a proper name; it's a title, a Muggle title as well..." said Snape. He and Dumbledore made brief eye contact, as if unanimously agreeing that this man was a Muggle. However, deep down, Dumbledore had his doubts. Being the incredibly intelligent man he was, he could sense that something wasn't right with this person. He looked incredibly intelligent, with eyes way too old for his young body. He seemed so much different to any Muggle...but Dumbledore thought that if he wasn't Muggle, that would make him Wizard, which would seem just as unlikely.

"What is a Muggle anyway? Some sort of name for people without-" retorted the Doctor, but Dumbledore interrupted their rather inane discussion.

"If I may interrupt this rather inane discussion, I would like to ask you three exactly what you saw tonight..." said Professor Dumbledore to Harry, Ron and Hermione, returning to the more pressing matters.

"Well, we were doing some of our homework in the common room when we felt the castle shake, as if we were in an earthquake..."

"Yes, indeed, I felt such tremors as well, but I thought it was just the trolls doing there late-night exercises. They tend to do star jumps at around this time of night." pondered Dumbledore.

"Trolls?" asked Martha, sounding shocked. "Are you being serious?"

"They are such things as trolls, Martha. They're an indigenous species on Earth, but practically no humans know about them as you only find them in deep underground places, and they don't like to be disturbed. That's why there were so many mining accidents back in the Victorian-"

"Do you ever shut up?" snapped Snape.

"If he says that one more time I will forget all pretences of my applied pacifism and punch him in the knackers..." whispered the Doctor to Martha.

"I thought you said people shouldn't resort to violence..." said Martha.

"There are always exceptions..." murmured the Doctor, smiling.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore was continuing to ask the trio about the arrival of the unforeseen intruders.

"The Blue Box appeared in the middle of the common room and those two came out. They asked us where they were and, well, we thought he was a bit mad..." said Harry.

"Still do..." muttered Ron under his breath.

"I heard that..." said the Doctor.

"Have the Aurors been alerted about this, Severus?" asked Dumbledore, ignoring the Doctor's comment.

"Minerva said she was going to get them to examine the Blue Box..." said Snape.

"Good. I need not ask any more questions to you three; we shall now question our present intruders..."

Dumbledore withdrew his own stick (or 'wand' as they would call it) and waved it in a particular way; thick ropes shot out of the end of it and intertwined themselves around Martha like snakes, but went nowhere near the Doctor.

"You let her go, it's me you want to question, not her!" shouted the Doctor angrily.

"How on Earth did you escape the charm?" said Dumbledore incredulously.

"He is immune to spells, Professor. I attempted a Silencing Charm on him earlier, but to no effect..." said Snape, looking slightly hopeful, as if Dumbledore would suggest a logical reason that would put him at ease.

"But that's impossible...even Muggles are effected by magic..." said Dumbledore. Snape's anticipation slid from his face.

"He did say he wasn't human..." piped up Hermione.

"He said what?" asked Dumbledore.

"Earlier, he said he was a Time Lord from some other planet..." said Hermione quietly.

Harry and Ron were, once again, looking clearly dubious, but Dumbledore turned to contemplatively scrutinize the Doctor, who was trying to rip the ropes off his companion. This would explain it, thought Dumbledore. Of course, the possibility that he's from another world was relatively absurd, but it would still, logically, explain his strange demeanour and how he had gotten into the school in a blue box. Dumbledore knew well of the Muggle conspiracies regarding creatures from other world; Dumbledore had always thought of it as beautifully imaginative, but lacking a little bit logic and a little bit of sanity.

Dumbledore focused back onto the scene before him; In one of the Doctors' hands he had a cylindrical piece of equipment that was flashing with a deep blue light. The rope was clearly weakening, getting thinner and thinner until, eventually, the rope snapped and Martha pulled herself fully out of its grip.

"Yes, we're definitely on friendly ground!?" said Martha sarcastically.

"Well,

"How are you immune to our magic?" asked Dumbledore, who now completely accepted that this man was not a Muggle.

"Time Lords are immune to Psionic Energy. It has no effect on us.." said the Doctor.

"Psionic Energy?" asked Dumbledore.

"He said it was a form of megaforce energy...or something...that has adapted for living beings..." said Hermione.

"Very well done, Hermione..." commented the Doctor, sounding impressed.

"This sounds like Muggle science..." said Dumbledore.

"Kind of, well, it's really hard to explain, but, to put it really short, Psionic Energy is the Scientific term for your magic..." said the Doctor. Snape raised his eyebrows. "Psionic Energy exists in each and every one of you 'wizards' and 'witches'; deep in the DNA, little coating of Psionic Energy embedded right into the genetic information of the body. It's very powerful energy, and can be channelled through devices, like your wands, to turn it into a weapon. You lot seem to use the term 'Muggle' a lot; is this a term for those without your ability?"

"Yes." said Dumbledore.

"Well, Muggles don't have any Psionic Energy in their DNA. Simple as that, well, kind of."

Dumbledore was about to speak, but at that exact minute Professor McGonagall rushed into the room, followed closely by a tall bald man in a dark suit, evidently an Auror.

"Professor...it's Dawlish! He's injured!" said Professor McGonagall.

"What? Again?!" said Dumbledore. "How on Earth was he hurt this time?"

"That Blue Box! He attempted to enter it and he got thrown backward into the staircase. Madame Pomfrey is currently treating him..."

"Ah, sorry, I forgot to mention that when the TARDIS is in hibernation it still defends herself; in fact, it defends herself more. No one, except me or Martha, can get in without my permission..."

"TARDIS?"

"The Blue Box. Time and relative dimensions in space. TARDIS."

"So this is our intruder?" asked the Auror, regarding the Doctor curiously.

"Indeed, Kingsley. He is, apparently, called the Doctor."

"And his accomplice?" asked Kingsley, nodding towards Martha.

"Martha, I believe you called her, Doctor?" said Dumbledore.

"Martha Jones..." said Martha.

"We've gathered that they're not Death Eaters, but we're still uncertain at exactly what the Doctor is..." said Dumbledore.

"How do you mean? Is he wizard, or Muggle?"

"As far as we can tell, neither..."

"_Neither_? What do you mean neither? What else could he be?"

A peculiar noise originating from the Doctor stopped Dumbledore from replying. The Doctor pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket, which was whistling and flashing erratically, almost like it was screaming.

"Temporal matrix is going into overdrive...at a rate of four-point-six sextillion Newtons a second..." said the Doctor, examining the Sonic Screwdriver.

"What does that mean?" said Martha.

"The TARDIS breached this dimension with such force that the dimensional walls are weakening..."

"Dimensional walls?" asked Dumbledore.

The Doctor said nothing, but his eyes grew wide with shock as the Sonic Screwdriver began to flicker faster.

"EVERYBODY, BRACE YOURSELVES!" shouted the Doctor suddenly.

The words had barely left his mouth when the entire castle shook suddenly with a massive vibration , the tremor increasing with every second. Some of the ornaments in Dumbledore's office fell onto the floor and shattered, whilst the portraits of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses shouted, yelped and yelled as some of their portraits fell from the walls. The people who were in the room fell to the floor like the ornaments and portraits, shielding themselves from fragments of disturbed rock and from the rather pointy objects of the room.

The shaking slowly diminished into eerie silence, and an equally unnatural bright light shone through the windows, fading back into darkness.

As the occupants slowly rose from the floor, it was apparent that the Doctor was already standing, staring out of the window.

"What the hell was that?" said Martha, coughing.

"When we arrived we ripped a hole open in the fabric of this small dimension, and the bottled up energy in this reality caused the walls of this dimension to collapse. That tremor was the force of this reality merging with the rest of the universe..."

"Is that serious?" asked Martha.

The Doctor turned to face the rest of the room.

"The entity protecting this reality has been destroyed along with the walls of the dimension..."

"Are you saying that the defences are gone?" asked Dumbledore, coughing slightly, but nevertheless looking unusually fearful.

"Yes...anything subtended to the walls would of been destroyed..." said the Doctor, clearly not understanding the seriousness of the situation.

Dumbledore turned to look at Snape and McGonagall, who were looking equally frightened. At that exact second, one of the silver, delicate instruments that hadn't fallen of its table began to whine just like a alarm. Dumbledore's eyes widened. It confirmed what the Doctor had said; the defences _were _down.

"I never asked, but why were there defences up in the first place?" asked the Doctor to a very quiet room.

"Because we're at war with evil forces keen on getting into this place, and thanks to you, you've just given them a direct route into this castle!" shouted Dumbledore.


	3. Unwilling Access

Peter Pettigrew was always assigned the most inconsequential tasks from Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters, but he could hardly complain. He preferred gentler, less hazardous jobs that didn't involve the possibility of death or painful injury. However, he found that his current job wasn't exactly the most enthralling job in the world.

He had been assigned to a small, protected hut that overlooked Hogwarts school with a simple task; to monitor the defences of the castle and to alert the Death Eaters if the protection becomes weak or disappears altogether.

This, as you'd might imagine, was a very monotonous task and Peter wasn't enjoying it one bit. He thought that he should be more appreciated in the group, seeing as he was one who brought back the Dark Lord two years prior. Still, at least he wasn't with the more active Death Eaters who enjoyed danger and the thrill of violence...two minutes with them and Peter would contemplate immediate suicide...

The hut in which Peter was sent to was horrible; there were gaps in the walls and the ceiling so rain seeped in whenever storms gathered, such as that night, and it was always very cold in the small hut (also because of the gaps), not to mention that there was little supplies for him, so he often went hungry. The Dark Lord had said that the hut will certainly suffice the needs of a rat...but even rats have standards, though Pettigrew.

In the room was a device positioned out of the window, directly at the castle beyond. Peter simply had to monitor it for anomalies in the defence matrix of the school, but it had detected nothing yet.

Peter shifted around the small room, trying to keep warm as it was bitterly cold, storm night. The wind roared through the tree tops and the rain drummed consistently on the rusty roof above him. Thunder faintly echoed from somewhere else in the valley.

Peter stopped dead at the sound of a low whistle, emanating from the poised device by the window. He turned slowly to face the device, hardly believing his ears. But it was true. The device was designed specially by the Dark Lord himself to detect protective forces...so this meant that the defences were gone...but how?

Knowing that he had to act quickly, he sprinted outside the hut and, with his wand, launched a small fireball into the air which shot off into the distance like a meteor, battling against the torrent of rain. Peter turned curiously towards the school and was surprised to see that the castle was shaking ever so slightly...he could just see it vibrating against the rain and the night.

Something strange was happening...but it wasn't his job to consider the danger of the situation...his job was to just tell the Death Eaters if the defences were gone and he had done so. This put his mind at rest, and he went back into the hut, deciding to watch the events to come on the school from the safety of a window.

* * *

"At war?! That's a little bit of an overstatement, isn't it?" asked the Doctor incredulously.

"It's not an exaggeration at all, Doctor! The Death Eaters are endlessly trying to breach this castles' walls and now they've found a rather large way in!" shouted Dumbledore.

"So the Death Eater's are _people_, why didn't anyone tell me that?" reprimanded the Doctor.

"You are failing to comprehend the seriousness of the situation!" shouted McGonagall.

"Well, what do they want to do with this castle?" asked the Doctor.

"Take it over for Lord Voldemort..." shouted Dumbledore, pacing his study in an anxious manner.

Everybody in the room, except Dumbledore and Harry (and of course, the perplexed Doctor and Martha) shuddered at the mention of this peculiar name.

"Lord Voldermo-?"

"DO NOT MENTION THE NAME!" shouted Snape.

"Um-may I ask why not?"

"There's no time for stories at this precise minute; we need to evacuate the school and try to get to reinstate the defences!" said McGonagall. Dumbledore, in silence, nodded. Snape turned towards the Doctor with a sadistically furious look in his cold, black eyes.

"Kingsley, take this man and his accomplice to the Third Floor Storage Room and lock them up in there. They've single-handedly managed to endanger the survival of Hogwarts, and we don't want them causing us any more grief!" spat Snape venomously.

"Yes, that will have to be done..." said Dumbledore, quietly, "Doctor, you may be a mysterious man and I can tell that you are an intelligent person, but I cannot jeopardize the safety of this school or its students. You will go with Kingsley. Be quick, Kingsley; we may need you at the front line if they get here sooner than we expect..."

"How long do you expect they'll take?" asked Kingsley.

"A couple of hours, at the most. They are extremely well organised, and have people everywhere..."

"Listen! I can fix this problem! You can't reinstate any protective forces because there's no wall anymore! My people used to rebuild dimensional walls all the time; we called it a hobby! If you let me get my TARDIS running again, then-" started the Doctor, but Snape rancorously interrupted, clearly exercising his irrational dislike of the Doctor.

"You've done enough tonight! We'll do better on our own!" said Snape, eyes narrowed.

"Just listen! I can do this! It's simple in theory and it will save this place from the Death Eaters and Lord Whatshisname!" said the Doctor.

"We cannot risk it!" pressed Dumbledore. "You may cause another tremor, and it is to be noted that this castle is over a thousand years old and isn't particularly durable..."

"That tremor was caused by dimensional wall disintegration, and seeing as there is no dimensional wall left I _can't_ cause another one! If you just let me, I can fix the wall!"

"_Silencio_!" shouted Kingsley, fed up with the intruder's rant, drawing his own wand at the Doctor. Once again, the spell had no affect on the Doctor at all.

"Please, let me fix this problem!" finished the Doctor, pleading to help. Behind him, Kingsley was scrutinizing his wand confusedly, bemused at how the Doctor had escaped his charm.

"He doesn't seem to be affected by any of our spells, Kingsley...a strange characteristic of an equally strange man...get him out of here..." said Snape maliciously.

Kingsley grabbed hold of the Doctor's shoulder, but the Doctor did not resist him at all. He calmly left the office with Martha at his side. As they left the office, the Doctor turned with a solemn expression to the occupants of the room, quiet clearly expressing, as a final resort, "I can help". The teachers ignored it, even Dumbledore. Even though Dumbledore was an open minded man who liked to think that anyone could do good, he had to put his school first and he couldn't risk the death of the many innocent children in the castle ,which could happen if the Doctor did something wrong. The Doctor was dangerous, he now realised. An aura of abnormal darkness now shone through the Doctor's eyes as he left the room...eyes far too old for his young body...how curious, but now wasn't the time to think about it...the welfare of the school was his top priority...

"Remember; be quick, Kingsley..." said Dumbledore, finally. Kingsley nodded.

The Doctor and Martha were taken to the storage room on the third floor, and locked in by the Auror, who had a clearly suspicious look as he locked the door on both of them, now effectively prisoners.

"Now what do we do?!" asked Martha, trying to find a place to properly stand in the cluttered room. It was a tiny, dark and rather claustrophobic room that smelled strongly of cleaning agents. The small window in this unpleasant environment showed that a large, menacing storm had gathered over the castle.

"We try to escape..." said the Doctor. "I mean, not just from this particularly small and pungently malodorous room, but from this place as a whole. It's too dangerous for someone like you..."

"We're always in dangerous situations!" pointed out Martha.

"Yes, but not when there's going to be some sort of battle..."

"There might not be; they said they were going to put the defences back up..."

"They can't without a dimensional wall to hold it...it would be like trying to sticking wallpaper to thin air..."

"Oh...well...maybe we'll be safe in here!"

"Not an option I'm willing to take. I need the TARDIS, if we're going to get out of here alive. We're going to have to get some Artron Energy from somewhere as well, or we'll never get going."

"Let's take it one step at a time...let's focus on getting out of here first..." said Martha.

"Good thinking, Miss Jones. I was just about to say it, but you get marks for beating me to the punch."

"Oh shut up..."

The Doctor pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver, but looked immediately narked when he examined it.

"Just my luck; it's burnt out. Psionic Energy melted the circuitry." murmured the Doctor, miffed.

"So how do we get out of here?"

"Um...shout really loudly and hope someone compassionate enough comes and opens the door?" suggested the Doctor feebly.

"Who'd hear us in this huge castle?" asked Martha.

"Well, there's nothing I can do. That door is Psionically Locked; I either need Sonic power to break through or another source of Psionic Energy to cancel out the lock..."

"We might as well get comfy then, as we have neither..." said Martha.

"Don't give up, there's always a way..." said the Doctor, although he was slightly unsure himself.

"Hmm...Doesn't like look there is..." murmured Martha.

The Doctor frowned at her pessimism, but didn't respond. He went to examine the locked door, but the lack of light made it difficult for him to see anything at all.

They were truly, and utterly, stuck. Again.

* * *

"Minerva, please alert the other professors of the impending problem, and then can you round up the ghosts. Instruct them to inform all the students, for them to collate in the Great Hall as soon as possible. Help them evacuate the students. They are bound to be frightened because of the tremor, but tell the ghosts to say that everything is under control to keep them calm...we don't need pandemonium.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore..." said McGonagall, and without another word she stepped out of the office .

"Severus, please send an urgent Patronus to the Ministry of Magic so they can send over a squad of Aurors for the assistance of the school. Then, join me in the grounds..."

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore..." said Snape, following McGonagall down the staircase, and Kingsley returned at that minute as well.

"Kingsley, would you please come with me into the grounds. We need to restore the defences, or at least get the minor protection up..."

"What about the Anti-Apparition protection?" asked Kingsley.

"That hasn't been lost, thankfully. However, the Anti-Apparition perimeter has greatly reduced in size; only half the grounds are covered."

"So the other half is vulnerable?"

"Completely...let's just hope they haven't found out yet..."

"Indeed."

"Let's go..." said Dumbledore.

"What about Harry, Ron and Hermione?" asked Kingsley, gesturing towards the three figures who had remained silent for a long time. Harry and Ron were looking anxious, whilst Hermione was looking confused.

"You three need to head to the Great Hall at once. Stay there and wait for the rest of the student body to arrive. It is only a precaution; if I can get the defences back up quickly, then the students can return to their dormitories...if I can't...well...let's focus on the defences for the time being..." said Dumbledore.

"But sir, the Doctor can help us. He said so himself..."

"Are you going to believe the word of a complete stranger, Miss Granger?" asked Dumbledore.

"Just because he's a stranger doesn't mean he's lying..."

"True, but I'm afraid I just can't risk him making things worse for the castle. We know so little about him; we can't trust him, especially after what he's done..."

"But sir-"

"No more, Miss Granger. We must be swift. Great Hall, quick as you can..." said Dumbledore, who subsequently jogged out of the room, much to the surprise of Kingsley. It was an odd site, seeing a hundred and sixteen year old wizard actually jogging...

The three teenagers stood in silence in the dark office, until Hermione broke it with a rather impetuous comment, which was very unlike her.

"We need to break the Doctor out..."

"Come again?" asked Harry, sounding shocked.

"We need to break him out!" repeated Hermione, determinedly.

"Are you mental as well?" asked Ron, completely stunned.

"Don't you see! He's the only one who can help the school now!"

"But Dumbledore-"

"Remember what the Doctor said! He said that we can't restore any protective forces because there's no dimensional wall around Hogwarts anymore!"

"Well, Dumbledore will be able to fix it. He's the most powerful wizard in the world. Besides, we just can't break someone out of the castle!" said Ron.

"Why not?!" asked Hermione, shrilly.

"Well...um...the teachers wouldn't approve..." said Ron, lamely. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Ron, we've done plenty of things that the teachers wouldn't approve of..."

"Yes, but this is more serious than-"

"Than what? Infiltrating the Ministry of Magic to recover a strange prophecy from a mysterious room full of sinister orbs? Fighting off a giant troll let out by a possessed wizard? Passing through a series of magical obstacles so as to retrieve a mystical and powerful stone from the clutches of Voldemort? We've done a lot of things that are against the rules and now we have a proper just reason to do it again! The school will be defenceless against an attack, and an attack is likely seeing as the Death Eaters are so well organised! We've got to get him out!"

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"I think she has a point..." said Harry.

"What?!" asked Ron, incredulously.

"Yes, I think that this man is weird, but he's just...you've just got...you just trust him..." said Harry slowly.

Ron shook his head uncertainly, but he sighed in such a way Hermione and Harry knew that he had given in.

"All right then, how do you suppose we'll get him out?"

"Simple unlocking charm...let's go!" said Hermione readily.

"Wait! How do you know that's gonna work?"

"It's our best option! Now let's go!" said Hermione finally, and all three ran out of Dumbledore's office and down into the corridors below, heading straight towards the small storage as fast as they could, for they knew that they had limited time, less time than they thought, for at that exact minute the bewitched fireball Pettigrew had sent earlier had reached its destination: Malfoy Manor, where Lord Voldemort resided, patiently waiting for news from his cowardly servant, and he was coldly pleased to see the fireball descend right into his long, white hands.

"Inconceivable...yet correct..." he murmured, a great smile appearing on his lipless, pale face.

He began to laugh, a laugh which echoed throughout the entire manor house and woke all of its terrified occupants. His laugh was one of triumph and anticipation, and he swiftly left to prepare for the events to come, still laughing.

"Tonight, I shall claim my crowning glory of this world!" he said, still laughing as he disappeared into the corridor beyond.

* * *

Back in the dismal storage cupboard, the Doctor and Martha were in single-minded silence, each looking for potential escape routes. The Doctor continued to study the door for any structural weaknesses, whilst Martha, blindly, tried to find objects in the room that could get through the impeding door. So far, the best item she'd found was an old razor. It was covered in thick hair, and smelled slightly like Stilton.

"Carbonic structural levels around empirical value seventeen divided by the sum of the surface area, relative atomic mass and atomic volume...plus energy fluctuations in the substance have to be lower than the square root of the photonic number of Carbon or the energy will be cancelled out...think, think, think, think, think...atomic piercing...why did I just say that; that would rip open half the planet..." muttered the Doctor, to himself, mainly because the only person who'd actually understand what he just said was himself.

Martha, who had not heard this rant, was struggling to reach something slightly pointy that she'd felt between a stack of "Delta's Delightful Detergent" bottles. Eventually, she reached it and pulled it out; it was half a broomstick (just a pole, really) and the end formed a slight point. Martha, annoyed by the apparent uselessness of this item, threw away from her.

"There's nothing! Nothing! You'd think there'd be something in a storage cupboard but they've got everything in here except what we want...like Homebase..."

The Doctor said nothing, but had become completely still.

"We might as well just stay here until someone eventually comes-"

"Shush!" snapped the Doctor.

Martha, looking briefly indignant, turned towards the Doctor.

"What?" she asked.

"Shush!"

"All right, all right I'll be quiet..." said Martha.

The Doctor pressed his ear right up against the door, and he heard very faint footsteps, getting steadily louder.

"Someone's coming..." said the Doctor.

Eventually, both the Doctor and Martha could hear distinct voices.

"...it's up here, isn't it?"

"No, that goes to the Broom Cupboard..."

"What about there?"

"That's the girl's bathroom, Ron..."

"Oh."

"Isn't the Storage Room near the Third Floor balcony?"

"I think you're right...up here then..."

"Look, there's another door! That must be it!"

"That's it alright!"

"Is it?"

"YES!"

"Oh, I thought that was the boys bathroom..."

"God, Ron, you're hopeless..."

The sound of footsteps echoed loudly outside the door, and soon it was clearly evident that they were right outside.

"Um, hello? Who's out there?" asked the Doctor.

"So we have got the right place!" remarked Harry.

"Doctor, it's us!" said Hermione.

"Hermione?" asked the Doctor, sounding stunned, "What are you doing here?"

"To get you out, of course!" said Hermione.

"May I ask why?"

"So you can solve this whole problem!" said Ron angrily.

"Your headmaster wasn't so keen to let me try...he didn't seem to think I was dangerous..." said the Doctor.

"Yes, but sometimes even Dumbledore can be wrong..." said Hermione.

"He's right, though. I am dangerous. Danger always seems to follow me. Just look at tonight; I've put this entire school in danger..." said the Doctor.

"Yes, but you said you can put it right!" said Harry.

"I can, but I'll need your help..."

"What do you need our help for?" asked Harry.

"We'll need all the help we can get if we're going to get back to the TARDIS..." said the Doctor.

"Ok, we'll help..." said Harry resolutely.

"Thank you..." said the Doctor.

"Now, we're going to try to open the door with an Unlocking Charm. It that doesn't work, we'll blast it open, so stand back..." said Hermione.

"Ok..." said the Doctor uncertainly, moving all the way back to the window. Martha did the same.

"_Alohomora_!" whispered Hermione. There was a soft clicking noise, and the door slowly creaked open to the corridor beyond.

"Right then! Let's move!" said the Doctor, at once, bounding out of the room, followed by Martha.

"Which way is it?" asked Martha.

"This way!" said Harry, pointing down the corridor.

"Allons-y!" said the Doctor enthusiastically, setting off at a brisk run. The others followed.

It was apparent that the teachers had started a full blown evacuation of the school. In the mere twenty minutes when the Doctor and Martha were locked up, a lot had happened; all the pupils were collecting in the corridors, some looking clearly afraid whilst teachers organised them into groups. The fact that the castle had become so busy was making it difficult for Harry, Ron and Hermione, along with their two fugitives, to get to the common room without being seen.

"...now, all of you need to form an orderly line and go directly to the Great Hall. No wandering, no dawdling; go straight there..." said the voice of Professor McGonagall from the next corridor. She was outside the Gryffindor common room, instructing a group of young students who seemed utterly frightened.

"What happened, Professor?" asked one particularly timid student.

"Professor Dumbledore will inform the students as soon as everyone is collated in the Great Hall..." said McGonagall firmly.

"How did that Blue Box get there?" asked an older looking student inquisitively, coming through the portrait hole.

"That's beside the point, McDonald. Carry on with your duty..."

McDonald returned to the common room, and another group of students came out. Most of them were wearing dressing gowns or pyjamas, and looking wholly scared.

"Sir Nicholas, can you please escort these second years to the hall as quick as you can?" asked McGonagall to a pearly, partly transparent figure who had just arrived through a wall. Martha's jaw dropped in surprise, and the Doctor was looking equally astonished.

"I'll be happy to, Professor. Second Years, follow me..." he said, and set off (or, more correctly, glided) down an adjacent corridor.

"_Ghosts_! You have real _ghosts_!" whispered Martha, half-dubious, half-nervous.

"Yes, don't you have ghosts where you come from?" asked Ron.

"No! Otherwise I wouldn't be-"

"Shh..." said the Doctor and Hermione at the same time. Martha and Ron mumbled incoherently.

"They're evacuating the common room one year group at a time. They're only on second year, so it'll be some time before it's totally empty..." whispered Hermione.

"Time we don't have..." said Harry.

"Is there any other way in?" asked the Doctor.

"No, there's just the portrait hall..."

"Really, all we have to do is get McGonagall away from here..." said Harry.

"How would we do that? Her main focus is getting the students out of the tower..."

"A diversion..." said Harry, smiling slightly.

"I like the idea..." said the Doctor, smiling appreciatively. "Not that I universally approve on fooling people in such a way, it just always works and that's what I like about it..."

"But what sort of diversion? She's smart, it'll take something big to get her away from here..." said Ron.

"An explosion?" suggested Harry.

"Not going to happen..." said the Doctor, suddenly serious. "We don't want any casualties..."

"A really loud noise, or something..." suggested Ron.

"It's not going to keep her occupied for long, is it?" said the Doctor.

"Oh you boys, you're hopeless! I'll do it!" said Hermione, rushing towards McGonagall.

"What's she doing?!" asked Ron.

"Let her try..." said the Doctor quietly. "We might learn something..."

"Miss Granger? What are you doing here?" asked McGonagall, enquiringly.

"Professor Snape gave me an important message when he returned from the Owlery. He needed your urgent assistance in reapplying the basic protection charms for the school..." she said, sounding very legitimate.

"Does he not know that we are trying to perform an evacuation?" she said, sharply.

"Yes, but he said he and Dumbledore need urgent help..."

McGonagall looked irresolute, but gave out an impatient sigh.

"All right, I shall go and assist Severus and Albus. Please tell Sir Nicholas when he returns to continue to escort all of the students to the Great Hall..." said McGonagall, and rushed off down the adjoining corridor.

"She's good..." said the Doctor.

"Yeah, she is..." agreed Ron.

"Come on!" said Hermione, and they all, quickly, entered the common room.

"Who's he?" asked many students at once.

"Er...new assistant to...um..Filch..." said Harry.

"Filch doesn't need an assistant, and who'd _want_ to be his assistant..?" said one older student.

"Well, he's his new assistant! Get over it!" said Ron. The older student turned away, eyebrows raised, and started escorting the younger students out of the common room.

The Doctor rushed into the TARDIS and came back out a moment later with a small transparent beaker which had loads of metal attachments to it.

"What the hell is that?" asked Ron.

"Artron detector!"said the Doctor, fiddling with the controls.

"Come again?" asked Ron.

"The TARDIS needs some Artron Energy so as to wake it up, so we've got to locate a source of it..."

"Where will we find a source of this Artron Energy?" asked Hermione.

"In random places! Little wells of the stuff appear all over the world, and there should be little pockets in this castle despite it being primarily Psionic. This device detects Artron and can store some!"

"Will that thing work in this Psionic environment?" asked Martha.

"Should do; it's designed to be resilient against all forms of energy so it can properly store it, so Psionic Energy shouldn't effect it at all..."

"OK, Doctor, lead the way..." said Hermione

"Indeed! Allons-y!"said the Doctor enthusiastically.

**This is the last part I wrote, I'm afraid. This was seriously written well over 4 years ago, and I have no current interest in restarting it. **


End file.
